Love and War
by Falconwolf3
Summary: Long awaited sequel to my stories Wolf Crossing, Undercover Agent, Dominion Wars and Let it Snow. Two members of Mutant X will die and leave a wake behind no one can fill. Will Mutant X survive? Last of the series!
1. Alcazar

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mutant X and sadly never will.**

**All right this story is the last part of my Mutant X series that started with Wolf Crossing (which I'm rewriting), Undercover Agent, Dominion Wars, Let it Snow, Tribulation and now Love and War. This is without a doubt my final part, no matter how much nagging I get (Mel, love you!)**

**All right, just so all of you are up to date:**

**Shal and Brennan are not together, but have a daughter named Brooklyn Jessica (B.J for short)**

**Emma is married to Mike, they have a child, Chris. Mike is the son of Adam and brother of Gabriel Ashlocke.**

**Jesse is married to Melodie and they have a 5-year-old son, Alex, and she's pregnant with another child.**

**Brennan is married to Marisol and she isn't pregnant.**

**Gabriel is no longer evil, he is married to Cassandra and they have two children, Gabriella and Ashley(who is a boy), they are twins and both 16 years old. Gabriella is deceased.**

**Lexa is married to Max. Rosalie is married to Dax. Josh ran off with Zack after he killed his brother by accident.**

**All the mutants live in a mansion named Xavier Estates, not Sanctuary, or Haven.**

**I hope that I updated you all, if not, please read the above mentioned stories for a refresher course.**

**Alcazar and Harmony are my new characters and their lives will unfold in this story.**

**Chapter 1: Alcazar**

My name is Alcazar Cates; I'm 20 years old, though to be honest, I feel much older sometimes. Lately, I've wanted something more in my life than what I have, but circumstances beyond my control have limited my options.

Four years ago, my parents were killed in a car accident and that left me taking care of my 16 year old sister Harmony. I love her, but she is a pain in the butt. She is the nicest person to be around, always there when I need her and always doing her part to keep our little family together.

As much as I love her, I also wish, I didn't have this responsibility. I had dreams of going to college to become a doctor. Now, I'm just hoping to have enough money to put food on the table every night, hoping to have enough to pay our rent, so we have a roof over our heads.

To make matters worse, we're both mutants. I'm elemental and she's thermal elemental. However, lately she's been having these horrible headaches and there's nothing I can do to help her. It isn't as if I can take her to the doctor.

I'm on my way to pick her up from school. It is days like this that I wish my parents had more than one car when they died. But more than anything, I wish my parents were here, they would know what to do.

It looks like it's going to rain today; I hope it holds off till I can get home. I hate walking in the rain.

Finally, I'm here at Harmony's school, I hope she is ready to go. There she is, standing in front of the school waiting for me, talking to some guy. He looks too old to attend school here, better walk faster, might have to kick his butt.

"Hey Al!"

"Hey Brandi!"

Brandi Wilson was Harmony's best friend; she came over and hugged me. We talked for a few minutes, and then the most sickening sound ever erupted. Harmony screamed.

I turned toward her to see that guy picking her up. He was holding her where her arms were pinned she couldn't use her power. I ran toward her, I had to stop that guy. He must have seen me running toward him. He turned toward me and fired a gun.

I felt the sharp pain in my shoulder and another pain in my chest. I could hear screaming from everywhere. But beyond Harmony, the screams were coming from the other kids. I fell to my knees. I tried to get back up, but couldn't. The last thing I remember was the look in Harmony's eyes….

**Mercy Hospital…**

Mike walked down the hallway of Mercy Hospital. He was grateful to Adam for letting him get a job outside of Mutant X. He had always wanted to finish medical school and as of last month, he had. He was now in rotation in the ER and loving every minute of it.

Emma was being great about the hours he was keeping. The only drawback was not getting to see her and Chris as much as he would like. He knew he didn't have to work, his father was rich and Mutant X was in little danger of going bankrupt, but he had wanted to be a doctor his whole life.

He was on his way to Trauma Room 2. A gunshot victim has been brought in with multiple gunshots wounds. The ER nurses were unsure how many because of all the blood.

He pushed the door open and walked inside the trauma room. The nurses were right; there was a lot of blood. He rushed to the side of the victim, struck by how young he was.

"What's his name?"

"Alcazar Cates."

Mike picked up a scalpel and began cutting into Alcazar's skin. His heart rate was getting shallow and Mike knew the kid was barely holding on to life. He knew if he didn't get these bullets out of him and the holes stitched up where the bullets had hit him, he would die.

The machine went off next to Mike; the kid's heart had stopped. Mike reached for the defibrillator to shock Alcazar's heart. As Mike shocked him, Alcazar's body arched on the operating table, though he was unconscious, his eyes opened. To Mike's amazement, there were small electrical charges in Alcazar's eyes. His heart started beating again. Mike knew instantly that he was dealing with an Electrical Elemental.

Knowing that, he knew that he would have to proceed differently. "Get Dr. Weller in here, now!"

Mike knew that if they could stop the bleeding and get him patched up that Alcazar would have a better chance than normal people would. Mutant were stronger and so where their healing mechanisms.

Dr. Weller ran into the trauma room and began helping Mike patch Alcazar. They worked feverishly for a half hour and finally succeeded in patching Alcazar. They wheeled him out of the trauma room and moved him upstairs to a room.

Mike turned toward a nurse, "Where is his family?"

"According to the girl out there, his parents are dead and his sister was kidnapped today. He was trying to stop it when he was shot."

Mike walked out of the trauma room, "You with Alcazar Cates?"

"Yes, is he all right?" the young woman said holding back tears.

"Yes he is; he'll be fine."

"Thank God, this is terrible; he and his sister don't deserve this."

"Your name?"

"Oh sorry, Brandi Wilson."

"Is there any family that I can call for him?"

"No, it's just him and Harmony. No aunts, no uncles, and no parents."

"All right, do I need to call someone to come pick you up?"

"No, my parents are on the way, but thanks anyway. Hey Doctor?"

"Yeah."

"Take care of him all right? He's one of the nicest guys I know."

"I will take care of him."

"Thanks."

**5 minutes later….**

Adam is awakened by the sound of a phone ringing, "Hello?"

"Dad, it's me Mike, I need a favor."

"Hey, do you know its 3 am in the morning?"

"Yes."

"All right, since that is settled. What's the favor?"

"I got a mutant here in the hospital dad, and he really needs help right now."

"Do we need to rescue him or can we just get him out calmly?"

"Calmly should work, just work it out, cause we don't have a whole lot of time."

"All right, be there in 15 minutes."

"Thanks."

**15 minutes later….**

"Yes sir, may I help you?"

"Yes I'm here to transfer a patient to another facility."

"Alright, name?"

"Alcazar Cates, room 1123."

"Which hospital will he be moving too?"

"It's all right here in these forms."

Jesse handed the forms to the nurse. The whole drive over he had wondered why he was doing this. As far as he knew, Alcazar wasn't in any danger and Mike didn't tell Adam any details other than the name and room number. Jesse knew the only reason he was there was because Adam's son and his friend, had asked him to come.

"Alright sir, everything seems in order, I'll have the orderlies meet you there."

"Thanks."

**1 hour later…**

Jesse walked out of Mercy Hospital with Alcazar in a stretcher. The orderlies helped him get Alcazar in the ambulance and Adam drove off. After 20 minutes, he pulled through the gates of Serenity Estates where his home was located. There were about 12 houses in this estate and he was still getting used to having neighbors.

He pulled up to Xavier Manor and drove the ambulance into the garage. He spoke into his com-ring, "Max, Dakota, I need both of you in the garage, now!"

Within 5 minutes, both guys arrived and helped unload Alcazar, "Put him into one of the rooms on the first floor for now."

"All right Jesse," said Dakota.

"When you two get done, tell Brennan to take this ambulance back to the hospital where I stole it from."

"No problem."

"Thanks."

"Hey Jesse, are you still not talking to Brennan?" asked Max.

"Not unless I have to, why?"

"Just wondering how long this is going to go on."

"Until one of us dies probably," said Jesse sarcastically, "Or at least until he grows up."

"He isn't the only one who needs to grow up," said Dakota. "This isn't your fight Jesse, Shal has decided to let it go, you need to do the same."

"Whatever, I'll forgive him when I'm ready."

Mike came home at 6 am and was met by Adam in the kitchen, "We need to talk."

"About?"

"Alcazar."

"All I know is he got shot today trying to rescue his sister from being kidnapped. He has no family Adam, no one to help him get her back."

"From the test I ran on him, he's your basic electrical elemental."

"Yeah, I figured as much."

"But I ran him through the mutant database, his sister Harmony, is quite different."

"How so?"

"She could be the most powerful mutant ever."

All right, kind of a cliffhanger, I know. However, I'm so good at those, lol. More soon, I promise!


	2. Harmony

**Disclaimer: Still don't own MX.**

**Thanks for all the awesome reviews. They mean so much to me you have no idea!**

**Chapter 2: Harmony**

"What do you mean Harmony is the most powerful mutant ever?"

"I mean she's got it all Mike. She Thermal Elemental, Telepathic Psionic, Molecular Intangible and a Feline Feral."

"Wow, wait if she's all that, then why did she allow herself to be kidnapped."

"Most likely, she doesn't know about everything yet. She knows something is wrong, but not what, yet. My guess is whoever took her knows everything and wants to use her."

"But who? The Dominion no longer exist, GSA is dead. Is there a new threat we don't know about?"

"Yes, I'll tell you and the others after breakfast."

**After breakfast...**

"Adam, please tell us what is going on," said Shalimar.

"All right, first off by now you all know we have a guest with us. His name is Alcazar Cates and he's an Electrical Elemental. He is sleeping off a gunshot wound right now, but will join us for lunch hopefully. Yesterday afternoon around 3 pm Alcazar's sister was kidnapped from school."

"How old is she?" asked Lulu.

"Your age, 16, and you all should know that she's a very powerful mutant. She possesses the powers of a thermal mutant, telepathic Psionic, molecular intangible and last, but not least, feline feral."

"I didn't know it was possible to have all those powers and live, Adam," said Ashley. "I mean it almost killed my dad having all his powers. Can't imagine how hard it would be for a girl."

"Are you saying girls are weaker?" asked Shal.

"No, no, not beating me up again!" laughed Ashley. He had had one too many fights with Shalimar in the dojo. Their first fight, he had won, that was the last fight he had won.

"All right, hush," said Adam. " Harmony is more than likely being turned at this very minute. She is being tortured into doing the will of whoever has her right now. She doesn't even know about her powers, much less how to control them."

"Who has her?" asked Lexa.

"I hate telling you all this, but the Dominion wasn't the only group I worked with."

"Oh Adam!" screamed Shal. "How could you not tell us?"

"Cause, I haven't heard from this group in 10 years. I thought they had disbanded."

"So who are they?" asked Emma.

"They are known as the Dark Angel Project, D.A.P for short. Mason started it, but he left to work with GSA instead. This group wants total control over all mutants so they can set the mutants in places like the White House and Senate. With their mutants in places of power, The D.A.P. will have all power."

Someone coughing interrupted them. They all turned to see a young man, with blonde hair and brown eyes standing there. "Sorry to interrupt."

"No, you didn't," said Melodie. "May I get you some breakfast?"

"No thanks, but you can keep talking about this Dark Angel Project," said Alcazar.

"All I know about this group is what I just said. They have your sister Harmony."

"Where are they?" he asked.

"I don't know, I know where they used to be, but their not there anymore."

"I have to find her before they hurt her!"

"We'll do everything possible to find her before anything bad happens," said Mel, as she placed her hand on his shoulder. He flinched at the touch of her hand. Mel moved her hand, "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"

"No, sorry, look I want to believe you guys will help me, but why should I believe you?"

"We're Mutant X, we help mutants like you and your sister all the time," said Emma.

"I've heard of Mutant X, my dad told me years ago that a friend of his founded a group of mutants."

"What was your dad's name?"

"John Cates, but people called him."

"Stone," said Adam.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I went to medical school with your dad."

"You're Adam Kane then, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, sorry to hear about your parents."

"Thanks, look can we catch up later, I really want, no, need to find Harmony."

"Of course, let's get started on finding her."

Everyone went to work; Lexa, Mari, and Jesse got started using the computers to locate The Dark Angel Project. Melodie and Emma took all the children to the playroom. Mike went to bed to catch up on his sleep.

Brennan and Lulu went to the dojo for training. Bren had been training her for the last 3 weeks and she was getting stronger, being able to do more than just kick.

Alcazar turned around to see Shalimar putting baby BJ on the couch. She had just taken her daughter out of the child seat and was about to take Brooklyn Jessica to the playroom when she heard BJ gasping for air.

She turned frantically at the sound and was about to rush toward her daughter, but before she could, Alcazar had BJ up and was gently giving her the Heimlich. A piece of cereal flew from BJ's mouth. BJ starting crying, Alcazar turned around and started patting her gently.

"Oh my God, thank you so much!"

"You're welcome, what's her name?"

"Brooklyn Jessica, we call her BJ for short."

"Cute name for a cute girl, you and your husband must be overjoyed with her."

"I'm not married, Brennan is married to Marisol, long story short, we're not married."

"Oh sorry, so how old is BJ?"

"Two months."

"Wow, what exercise to you do? You look amazing!"

"Thanks, I just beat the crap out of Ashley three times a week."

"I heard that!" yelled Ashley.

Shalimar looked down at her daughter only to find that BJ had fallen asleep in Alcazar's arms. Her heart warmed at the sight. "I think she likes you."

"Good to know, cause I like her too."

"I'll show you her nursery, apparently she needs a nap."

"Ok."

Shal and Alcazar came back into the living room to see if there was any progress on finding The Dark Angel Project. Shal spoke first, "Any news?"

"Yeah, Lulu found the hideout for the Dark Angel Project!" said Marisol.

"What are we waiting for?" asked Alcazar. "Let's go!"

"We're waiting on a blueprint of the building," said Lexa. "Then we plan how to best attack the place with little harm to ourselves or Harmony."

"How long will this take?"

The machine behind them went off, Jesse took the paper from it, "We have the blueprint, all right let's pick the entrances, exits and who's going."

It took 15 minutes for them to pick the entrances and exits. Took all of 2 minutes for them to pick who was going on the mission. Lexa spoke up, "All right, Jesse, Brennan, Max, Dax, Rosalie, Lulu, Me, Ashley and Gabriel are going."

"What about me?" asked Alcazar, "She's my sister, I should be the one who saves her!"

Shal spoke up, "Al, you got shot yesterday and you need to rest. You will be no good to her if you're dead."

"All right, but let me know the minute you got her."

"I will," said Lexa. "All right team, let's go rescue Harmony."

**All right, this was a short chapter, but the next one is longer I promise. Thanks in advance for the review. I promise to return the favor and leave you a review as well. **


	3. Mission

**Disclaimer: I do not, now will I ever won Mutant X. Excuse me while I cry….**

**Thanks again for the reviews; I'm touched really, I am. I love writing and love that what I write, you guys love enough to leave me a review. Thanks!**

**Chapter 3: Mission**

Lexa and Brennan went in the front of the building, Max and Dax went in the side entrance, Rosalie and Lulu went in through the back door and Jesse, Ashley and Gabriel went in through the rooftop door.

Jesse and Brennan were amazed to find no resistance. The entire team met in the center of the building, "Guys, this can't be the place," said Lexa.

"But guys, this was what showed up in the database," said Lulu.

"We believe you," said Jesse. "The database must have been wrong this time."

Out of nowhere, they saw a flash of fire coming at them. Rosalie and Lulu hit the floor in fear. As the flames subsided, they all looked to see a girl standing before them holding her hands up, with flames ready. "Leave!" she screamed.

"No!" yelled Jesse, "Not until we get who we came after!"

"Who is that?"

"Harmony."

"That's me and I'm not going anywhere," she said throwing flames right as Jesse, so that he hit the ground with flames covering him. Dax jumped on Jesse and beat the fire off of him.

Rosalie and Lulu were still pinned to the floor in fear, but Max didn't have the same fear as most ferals, he rushed toward Harmony and knocked her to the ground. He pinned her arms where she couldn't use her powers. "Gabe!"

"Coming!"

"Use your powers to keep her from using her Psionic powers on me!"

"Will do."

Just beneath Max, Harmony wiggled and strained to get free. Max could feel her trying to use her molecular powers, but he guessed she was too new to them to use them. "They must have turned her guys; she's not the girl Alcazar described!"

"You know my brother?" asked Harmony.

Max saw a flicker of acknowledgement from the girl, "Yes, he sent us to rescue you."

"That's nice," smiled the girl. "But I don't need rescuing."

"What?" asked Max.

Out of no where Harmony raised her knee to make contact with Max between the legs. He screamed put and rolled off Harmony, Gabriel grabbed her as she stood up and turned her to face him, she sent of Psionic images to him and he fell to the ground screaming.

Harmony sent off flames toward the rest of the team, and when the flames cleared, she was gone.

Lexa and Dax ran to Max and Ashley ran to Gabriel. Rosalie and Lulu ran to Jesse, who was still on his back, he was groaning from the pain the fire caused.

Lexa and Dax helped Max to his feet, "Bro, you never learn do you?"

"Shut up!"

"Never leave you legs open around a girl," said Dax sarcastically.

"Shut up!"

Lexa laughed, "All right let's get him to the SUV and get back to Adam."

Rosalie and Lulu helped Jesse up, "Be careful Jess," said Rosalie. "We'll get you back to Adam and he can get you something for these burns."

"Ok, I though this mission would be easy," he smiled. "Teenage girl with super powers, no problem."

Ashley picked Gabriel up, whose pain had subsided. Gabriel looked around, "Where's Brennan?"

Ashley looked and saw Brennan lying on the ground 30 feet away, he and Gabriel took off running toward him. Ashley yelled into his com-ring "Brennan's down!"

Lexa and Dax left Max at the SUV and took off running back into the building. Rosalie and Lulu left Jesse at the front of the building and ran back to see about Brennan. Max stumbled over to help Jesse to the SUV.

Lexa, Dax, Rosalie, and Lulu arrived at the same time back at Brennan. Gabriel was kneeling beside him, Ashley was crying and Rosalie knew why, "Oh no, not Brennan!"

Rosalie started crying and so did Lulu. Lexa knelt down, felt for a pulse, and found none, tears formed in her eyes. She angrily brushed them away, "Let's get him in the SUV."

"Is he dead?" asked Jesse, who had come back in.

"Yes, I'm so sorry Jesse," said Lexa.

Jesse walked over and looked down at Brennan, "What happened?"

"We don't know, we'll get him back to the Manor and Adam can tell us," said Lexa. He's not burned anywhere and I see no blood."

"What do we tell Shal and Mari?" asked Lulu, "Oh no, B.J!" and she lost it, tears started streaming down her face, "Her daddy' dead!"

**Back at Xavier Manor…**

Mari sat motionless as the team told how the mission had turned ugly and that Brennan had been killed. She was numb and she knew she was crying, but didn't feel anything. She felt arms come around her and she glanced up to see it was Shalimar, who was holding B.J. Shal was trying not to cry, but it wasn't working. Everyone cleared the room and left the two women there.

Alcazar walked over, "Shal, you want to put B.J. down so you two can talk?"

"You don't mind?"

"No, it will give me something to do, I'm so sorry for what happened. Harmony isn't a bad person never hurt a fly. You both probably don't want to hear that right now though, let me take B.J."

"Thanks, Al," said Shal.

Alcazar took B.J. and walked out of the room.

Shalimar put her arms around Mari, "It will be all right."

"No it won't!" screamed Mari, the anger took over where the pain had been, "This wasn't supposed to happen like this!"

"I know, it's not fair, but Brennan…"

"Shut up!"

"What?"

"Just shut up! You had everything with him! You have a child by him and I have nothing! How can you be nice to Alcazar after his sister killed the father of your child? Are you that heartless or are you just wanting Al in your bed?"

Shal crossed the room and slapped Mari across the face, "How dare you? I love Brennan with all of my heart and it kills me to know that he is dead. He is the father of my child and more than that, he was my friend! I'm going to forgive you because I know you didn't mean it, you're just hurt," said Shal with a tear rolling down her face. "But don't you ever say that I didn't love Brennan, because I did."

Mari sat on the edge of the couch, "I was going to tell him tonight that I wanted to start a family and have a child with him…" tears took over and Shal sat beside her and held her, "I'm so sorry."

"I didn't mean what I said, Shal."

"I know, I know, it's all forgiven."

**All right, feel free to flame me for killing Brennan now. I needed something major to happen and you will all understand why later in the story. After all the story is titled, "Love and War," for a reason.**


	4. Remorse

**Disclaimer: I still don't Mutant X.**

**Chapter 4:**

Melodie awoke in her bed and rolled over to find Jesse not there. She turned to see if the light was on under the door of the bathroom. It wasn't so she knew he wasn't in there. She noticed the time on the clock was 3 am, so she got out of bed. She pulled her pink robe from the chair by their bed. She opened the door and walked down the hall, she noticed the door to Alex's room was open so she peered in.

Jesse had crawled in bed with Alex and fallen asleep there. As cute as I was it broke her heart to see that Jesse' cheeks where stained with tears. Jesse had really taken Brennan's death hard; they all had, but especially Jesse. Jesse had been angry with Brennan for hurting Shalimar that he refused to forgive him. He had refused to be his friend again. Jesse had angrily told him just last week that he was no friend of his.

Jesse must have felt her presence, because he stirred and looked up at her. He gently moved himself out from beside Alex and walked to toward her. Out in the hallway, after he closed to the door, "Sorry, just lost track of time."

"Jesse, you want to talk about Brennan?"

"What's there to talk about, he's dead and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Don't be like this."

"Don't be like what? Don't be a jerk! Cause that's all I know how to be right now!" he yelled. "God Mel, my best friend died to today and he thought I hated him!"

"Jesse, calm down, you'll wake everyone up!"

"I don't care! Brennan is dead and might as well have been the one to kill him!"

"What?"

"You know in the fight I didn't even know he was down! I was outside getting ready to get in the SUV when I heard Ashley scream into the com-ring that Brennan was down!"

"Jesse, you were burned, it makes sense that…"

"Don't make excuses for me. I was a jerk long before I was burned. Why couldn't I just say that I forgave him?"

"Cause you were angry, we all were," said Melodie.

"But he died not knowing…"

"Not knowing what?"

"That I loved him like he was my brother, cause for years, he was."

A single tear rolled down Jesse' face and Melodie hugged him tightly, "He already knew Jesse."

XXXXX

Emma watched from a distance as Mel walked with Jesse back to their room. She felt just as lost as Jesse, but even more alone. Brennan had been like a big brother to her, but even more. She had never told anyone this, but she had a major crush on Brennan when she first joined Mutant X. She guessed it was the bad boy image or just the way he was always protecting her. She never made anything of it because she saw how he looked at Shalimar and Shal at him. She hadn't been at all surprised to come back and find them together. What surprised her was their breakup; it had been nasty and made everyone around them uncomfortable.

Emma walked down the hall toward her room. She needed Mike right now, she needed someone to hold her and tell her that everything would be all right.

XXXX

**The next morning…**

Adam had called everyone together in the living room. "All right, we were dealt a major blow yesterday with Brennan and I am with you all in mourning that loss. However, we still need to rescue Harmony. We can't let her continue to be turned against us."

"Actually, we need to talk about that," said Gabriel.

"What do you mean?"

"Yesterday I felt something coming from her and I think everyone here should know it."

"What did you feel dad?" asked Ashley.

"When Max was holding her down and he said Alcazar's name, she flinched in recognition of the name."

"That's great," said Alcazar, "if she remembers me than they haven't completely turned her yet!"

"No, wait, let me explain, the feeling I got from her were ones I would have went after when I was bringing Links to me. She's hurt, she feels abandoned, Alcazar, it is all directed at you. She is very angry at you about something."

"She was probably angry that I didn't rescue her."

"That may be it, but I don't think so, her anger was deep."

"OK, we can figure that out later," said Mari angrily, "You mind if we talk about how my husband died."

"Mari!" yelled Shal, "please not in front of B.J."

"Well take her to another room, cause I want to know what happened to Brennan," she wasn't trying to be mean, but it was killing her look at B.J. knowing she would never have Brennan's child and worse yet, never have Brennan again.

"Look we all want to know what happen to Brennan, but we do need to rescue Harmony. Quit acting like we don't care!

"Quit acting like you do!" yelled Mari.

Shalimar got up in anger and walked toward Mari. Jesse stood up and blocked her way, "Shal, drop it, she's just hurt."

"I'm tired of her saying I don't care about Brennan!"

"She's wrong, we all know she's wrong, but we also know she's hurting."

Alcazar walked over and took B.J. from Shalimar, "Let me go put her down for you, she doesn't need to be here for this."

"Thanks, Al."

"All right, everyone calm down," said Adam. "You all sit down and I'll tell you what happened to Brennan. I performed an autopsy this morning," he said slightly choking on the words, "Brennan was shot."

"I didn't hear a shot," said Lexa.

"They must have used a silencer then, because he was shot. Death was immediate, he did not suffer."

Mari started crying and everyone knew what she had feared the most. She had feared that he had suffered. Shalimar walked around Jesse and hugged Mari. Together they started to leave the room.

Adam continued, "I found this in his pocket, Shal I think he would want you to have it."

"Why Shal?" asked Mari angrily.

"Cause it's a poem he wrote, for B.J."

Mari looked at Shalimar, "I'm sorry I've been so mean, I know you loved him. I know you all loved him he knew it too."

Everyone got so silent at the words Mari spoke. Tears formed in her eyes, "I've thought of leaving Mutant X and going home to my family, but I can't leave, not until the people responsible for killing Brennan are dead."

"We will honey," said Shal, "We'll get them."

Alcazar came back to the room and glanced over at Shal. Shal smiled a silent thank you before turning her attention back to Mari.

"Alcazar," said Mari. "If it was Harmony that killed my husband, I'm sorry, but I'm going to kill her."

"Look I understand your pain right now…" started Alcazar.

"No!" yelled Mari, "you have no idea how I feel!"

"Actually I do!" screamed Alcazar right back at her. "Quit acting like you're the only one who has ever lost someone you love!"

Everyone sat staring from Mari to Alcazar, not sure what to do. Shal knew he was talking about his parents and her heart broke for the pain she saw in his eyes.

Lexa cleared her throat, "Guys, we need to focus our attention on finding Harmony."

"Thank you Lexa," said Adam. "Mari, sit down please. You need to hear this."

Mari glanced angrily at Alcazar and sat down next to Shalimar. Shal glanced up at Alcazar and he walked around the couch to sit beside Ashley.

"Mari, you need to know Harmony didn't kill Brennan," said Adam. "She couldn't have, from what Jesse, Lexa and the others have told me, Harmony didn't have a gun."

"That they saw," said Mari.

"Mari, listen to Adam," said Shalimar gently.

"Brennan was shot from behind; I'm guessing Harmony's fire was the cover for the shot."

"Then she was behind it," said Alcazar sadly.

"No, I don't believe she knew Brennan was going to be shot. I had Jesse pull the surveillance footage from across the street from the building they went to yesterday," he said as he moved aside to show behind him on the computer screen the building from an aerial view. "You all need to pay close attention here."

_They watched as they pulled up in front of the building and they went inside the building. From the windows, you could see flames flicker inside the building. After the third flash, they saw Harmony run from the building, look both ways in a panic and run into the alley. After 2 minutes a man wearing black ran out after her, he looked everywhere and ran down the alley after her…_

"That is where I lost her, I'll get Jesse to see if he can find anymore footage, but from what I can see Harmony is on the run."

"Wait," said Shalimar, "What you're saying is that she was involved to begin with, but when Brennan got shot, she freaked and ran."

"I believe they turned her, but the shooting must have freed her or something. All I know is she is out there and all alone."

"We need to rescue her," said Shalimar without hesitation. "Come on guys, she's one of us."

"Count me out," said Mari, as she left the room.

"Fine, we will!" yelled Shal. "Adam, we need to call Josh and Zack back."

"Already done, they'll be here by nightfall."

"We need more than just them," said Melodie. "I can't help because I'm pregnant."

"All right, we need to know exactly whose in and who's out," said Adam. "Then I'll know if I need to send out a call for help."

After a few minutes, they knew that everyone but Mari and Melodie was in, so that left: Shalimar, Alcazar, Jesse, Emma, Mike, Ashley, Gabriel, Lexa, Max, Dax, Rosalie. Josh and Zack were on their way back.

"All right," said Adam, "We won't need that many to rescue Harmony, but we will need that many to get rid of the Dark Angel Project."

Jesse spoke up, "All right, I've run the surveillance for the neighborhood surrounding that building. I've narrowed the search area; I need a team so I can go get Harmony."

"I'll go," said Alcazar.

"Not a good idea," said Gabriel. "She is very confused and angry at you at the moment."

"Fine, I'll just go to my room and let you all rescue my sister!" he left the room.

"I'll go," said Shalimar.

"Me too," said Lexa.

"I'm in," said Max and Dax at the same time.

"I'll go," said Emma.

"All right," said Adam, "You all, be careful and stay in contact with me at all times."

"Done," said Jesse, as he and the others left.

XXXX

Alcazar was headed for his room when Gabriel walked up behind him, "Hey."

"Hey, Gabriel right?"

"Right, listen, what I said back there about your sister Harmony was the truth. She is really angry with you. The people who had her might have told her some lies to turn her against you; it was the only way to really break her spirit."

"What do I do, I mean I have to save her."

"I think it may already be too late for that."

**All right, next chapter is coming up soon.**


	5. Flee

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mutant X**

**Thanks for all the reviews and believe me I read every one of them. **

**Chapter 5: Flee**

Harmony ran behind a trash can to catch her breathe. She had never run so fast in all her life and for so hard. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and her eyes were messed up. She couldn't see right and couldn't understand it. All she was seeing was a bright yellowish green color over everything. Funny thing was it made it easy for her to see things as she was running.

Her hearing was exceptional and it was wearing on her nerves. Every sound was piercing her brain it seemed. She peered across the way and saw a building there. It appeared to be an old factory of some sort. She could smell something like donuts in the air, but it was an old stale smelling scent.

She looked to see if the scary man was still chasing her and then ran across the street. She was running faster than she realized and just before she collided with the door, she through her hands up in front of her to protect herself from the pain to come.

In her shock, she went right through the door like a ghost or something, _'Oh no, tell me I'm not dead. Wait that hurt when I feel to the floor, so no I'm not dead.'_

Harmony walked over to some of the old cases that appeared to be refrigerators. She hoped to find something to eat, even stale donuts would be better than nothing. She hadn't eaten for days and she hurt so much from the running.

She opened the door to find one box of molded donuts and a can of coke. She picked up the coke and placed in on the counter behind her. She opened the next refrigerator and found a half bag of cheese puffs. She took them out and sat down at the counter.

She popped the can of coke and took a sip. It wasn't cold, but it was delicious. She unrolled the bag of cheese puffs and took a bite of one. It was terrible and she spit it out. She decided to take the coke and walk around, maybe she could find something else to eat. She knew she was being dumb just walking around without a care, but she was starving and her stomach was talking louder than her brain.

She walked out the kitchen area into what appeared to be a storage room. There were storage boxes everywhere. She opened one the cases to find a bunch of frozen dinners. She took out one, walked back to the kitchen, and prayed the electricity was still on for the microwave. To her amazement, it did.

After the dinner was done, she quickly ate it and cleared everything away.

She walked back into the storage area; she wondered what else was in there. She walked back to the very back and opened one that was a huge freezer. What she saw made her scream out loud.

Hanging there like animals was 18 humans, dead and frozen.

From behind her, she heard a sound and quickly shut the door back and hides behind a crate. Whoever had done that to those people had returned.

She heard footsteps and voices, _'Dear God, please get me out of here. There is no way I can get out of here on my own.'_

"Over here guys!" yelled a woman.

'I am so dead.'

"Harmony!"

At the sound of her name, she opened her eyes to see a blonde woman looking at her. The woman was squatting down about 8 ft away. "Who are you?"

"My name is Shalimar Fox, my friends and I are here to rescue you."

All of a sudden, 3 guys and 2 women joined the woman who said she was Shalimar. Harmony immediately recognized the three guys from yesterday. They were with the man that had been shot. She had burned the blonde guy staring at her and the guy with black hair, she had kneed very hard. "Don't hurt me please!"

"We're not here to hurt you," said Jesse. "We're here to take you to your brother. He's been so worried about you."

"Alcazar?"

"Yes, he's back at our place and he wants to see you," smiled Shal. She could just see the look on Al's face when they brought Harmony home.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" screamed Harmony.

"Honey, we're not going to hurt you," said Emma. She sent out a feeling of calm toward to Harmony. All of a sudden, Emma was flown against the wall behind her. Max and Dax ran toward her. They helped her slowly to her feet.

Jesse pulled Shalimar away from Harmony, "Why did you do that?"

"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"She's telling the truth," said Emma. "I tried to calm her, but something inside of her reflected it back at me."

"All right, well let's get you out of here," said Jesse as he reached out his hand to Harmony.

Harmony looked at the guy reaching his hand out to her. He had the most amazing blue eyes and dimples to die for. Something inside of her told her she could trust him. She reached out for his hand to take it.

"Why did you scream before?" asked Dax.

"Look in the freezer over there," she said pointing.

Dax went over and opened the door, "Guys, we need to call the cops when we get home."

Max and Shal immediately knew what was in there; they could smell it.

Jesse, Lexa, and Emma looked in; they were shocked to see the bodies hanging there.

"Adam?" said Lexa into her com-ring.

"Yes, Lexa."

"We have a problem, get a fix on our location, and send the cops to this location."

"Will do, have you found Harmony?"

"Yes, we're on our way to the Estates now," she said.

"Is that where Al is?" asked Harmony.

"Yes."

"Then I'm not going there."

"Why not?" asked Shal, "Al loves you."

"Alcazar is a liar!"

**Come on, you all knew I was going to leave it on cliffhanger! Review please!**


	6. Liar, I Hate You

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mutant X.**

**Chapter 6: Liar, I hate you!**

Shalimar sat in the back seat of the SUV. Harmony was in the backseat with her with Lexa sitting in the middle between them. Harmony was gazing out the window lost in her own little world. Jesse was driving, Emma and Dakota were sleeping in the third row behind Shal, and Dax was snoring up a storm. She was going to have to talk to Rosalie about this when she got home. Max was in the front telling Jesse corny jokes and was getting hit by Lexa when they became too adult for Harmony to hear.

Shal thought it was funny how protective Lexa was of Harmony.

Shal was also lost in thought though; back at the warehouse, Harmony had said that Alcazar was a liar. Her mind was going a mile a minute trying to figure out what Harmony meant. She had grown fond of Alcazar over the last day and half. She wasn't in love with him or anything like that, just liked him a lot.

It killed her to think that maybe he had been lying the whole time. However, she didn't know what Harmony was accusing him of lying about. For all she knew it was just something the people who took her said to turn her. Nevertheless, she seemed convinced that Alcazar was a liar. They were 2 miles away from Xavier Manor when Lexa broke the silence, "So Harmony, where do you go to school?"

"Jefferson High."

"Do you have a favorite subject?"

"Yeah, history and boys."

"Good subjects," smiled Lexa. "So do you have a boyfriend?"

"I did, but we broke up."

"Why is that?"

"Cause he wanted to have sex and I didn't," she groaned.

"Well he was a loser," said Lexa, "you'll find someone better."

"Yeah, that's what Al said when I broke up."

Shal saw an opening and decided to take it, "So what kind of brother is Al?"

"Thoughtful, kind, and always there when I need him."

"Sounds good."

"You want to know why I called him a liar don't you?"

Shalimar was shocked by the question until she remembered Adam telling them Harmony was Psionic as well. "Well you if you don't mind telling me, yes."

"I don't mind, you all rescued me, least I can do. The reason I called him a liar is because he lied to me about our parents. He told me they were dead and they aren't!" her voice rising in anger. "I mean how could he tell me they were dead?"

"Maybe he thinks they are," reasoned Shal. "Wait are you sure they're not dead?"

"Yes I'm sure! I'm not talking anymore until I see him, wait till you see his face; you'll know I'm not lying!"

"I never said you were lying Harmony, I just asked if you were sure."

"You'll see when we get… wait, where are we going?"

"You're going home with us and we're here," said Jesse as he pulled into the driveway.

Jesse exited the SUV and opened the door for Shal to get out, "Ease up on her, Shal, she's scared."

"I just want answers."

"We all do, but we are going to have to wait until she's ready to give them."

From behind them they heard the door to the front door of the mansion open and out came Mari is a huff. Shal saw her first and went toward her, "Mari, don't do this."

"Get out of my way."

"No."

"Why are you protecting the girl who killed Brennan?"

"I'm not; Adam said she didn't do it."

"What if he's wrong?"

"What if he's not and you kill an innocent child?"

Mari looked down at the ground and then back up at Shal, "All right, I'll hold off until I know for sure she did it."

"Fine, thank you."

Mari walked back into the mansion; Melodie came out to kiss Jesse. "Hey, I'm so glad to see you."

"Glad to see you too," he smiled. "Where is Alcazar?"

"In the backyard, Adam decided a barbeque was in order today. He said he always wanted to have one," laughed Mel. "Shal, Alcazar is so cute with B.J. She keeps cooing at him, he tickles her, very cute."

"Harmony, let's go around back," said Shal. "Please don't blow up at your brother until you hear his side and please don't flame him if he's holding my daughter."

"I would never hurt Alcazar, but especially if he's holding a child."

Alcazar was helping Mike watch all the kids. Emma walked over and picked up baby Chris. Max and Dax went over and played with Alex with Jesse and Melodie. Shalimar walked over, "Alcazar, someone's here to see you. Give me my daughter," she smiled.

Alcazar turned to see Harmony standing 20 feet away. Part of him wanted to run to her and hug her, but the look in her eyes stopped him cold, "What's going on?"

Harmony walked over, without flinching slapped Alcazar across the face, "I hate you!"

"What the... what did I do?"

"How could you lie and tell me that mom and dad died in a car accident?"

"They did, I wouldn't lie to you about that!"

"Liar!"

"Calm down!"

"I will not calm down. He told me everything! He told me how you arranged for me to be kidnapped!"

"I did not! I got shot trying to save you!"

"No you didn't, he said you faked it!"

Adam and the others walked closer, except for Melodie and Emma who stayed with the kids.

"I did not fake it! I… wait, Mike tell her!"

"Harmony, my name is Mike; I operated on your brother in the ER yesterday morning. He was no faking the gunshot wound he came in with."

Harmony grew quiet, "But he said you fake it."

Alcazar took off his tan colored shirt. He turned so she could see the bandaged that was across his stomach. He yanked the bandage off and screamed in pain. A few stitches got yanked out in the process and he began bleeding slightly, "Does this look like I'm faking?" he yelled.

"No."

Shal went over to the picnic table and picked up a small dish towel. She dipped it in the icy water that was chilling the drinks. She then walked over and placed it on Alcazar stomach to relieve the obvious pain he was in, "We need to get Adam to re-stitch you."

"No, not till she tells me who told her I faked it! Was it the monster who tortured you into helping attack these guys when they tried to rescue you? Do you know that monster killed one of their friends?" he said pointing around him.

Harmony glanced around sadly, "I didn't mean for the man to die. I didn't even know it was going to happen. I was just told to protect him from them."

"Who?"

"Dad."

"What?"

"It was dad that I was protecting!"

**OK, bet some of you saw that coming. Please review if you want another chapter.**


	7. Deceit

**Disclaimer: As always I do not own Mutant X. I do however own Harmony and Alcazar.**

**Thank you for all the reviews. They are very much appreciated.**

**Chapter 7: Deceit**

"Dad."

"What?"

"It was dad that I was protecting!"

Alcazar was stunned beyond words, "Wait, you were protecting dad?"

Harmony saw the look in her brother's eyes, "He was lying, you didn't know he was alive."

"No I didn't. I was told he and mom had both died in the car accident. Is mom alive?"

"I don't know, I asked, but he never said for sure. But I got the feeling she was close."

"I can't believe this," he said. "I can't believe their alive. I can't believe you would believe I would lie to you!"

Harmony felt his anger more than she heard it. She should have known that Alcazar would never lie to her. However, it was her own father who told her Alcazar knew. "But dad told me, how was I supposed to know he was lying?"

"You're Psionic!"

"I'm what?"

Alcazar realized Harmony had no way of knowing she had all the powers Adam told him about while she was being held captive. "Harmony, Adam over there, told me you had more powers than we knew about. Not only are you Thermal Elemental, but you are also Telepathic Psionic, Molecular Intangible and a Feline Feral."

"Is that why I've been having so many headaches lately?"

"Yes," said Emma as she stepped forth, "I'm also Psionic and I get the worst migraines. Later I can help you control your power if you like."

"Yeah, that would be nice."

"Jesse can help you with the intangible molecular stuff, he's one of those."

"Yeah, I would love to help you out," said Jesse. "And coincidence, Shal here is a Feline Feral; she can help you out there."

"Yeah, Rosalie and I here can teach you all about that."

Shal turned to see Alcazar had walked away and was now sitting on a bench in the backyard. He was still holding the rag over his stomach, but she could see he was still bleeding. She walked over to him and sat down next to him. "You ok?"

"No, not really. You mind leaving me alone?"

"Sure, not problem," she said back, trying to hold back the tears. She wasn't sure why this guy was getting to her, but he was. She got up and started to walk off; Alcazar caught her hand, "Wait."

"Thought you wanted to be alone."

"I thought I did too, but for reason I changed my mind. Can we talk?"

"Sure," she said sitting back down.

"I'm trying to process everything. Harmony isn't lying about our dad, she really saw him. I thought he was really dead, I really did," he said looking into Shal's eyes. "Why would my dad and mom let us believe they had died? Better yet, why would dad have Harmony kidnapped? I have a lot of questions and no answers."

"Well let's go ask Adam."

He took his hand and they walked over to Adam. Adam saw them coming, "After dinner, we will talk ok?"

"Adam?" asked Shal. "You can't expect him to wait that long for answers."

"I need to find out some things before we talk. I don't want to give Al or Harmony the wrong information."

"I can wait, but only till after dinner," said Al. "Harmony has been through so much in the last few days. Lets get some food in her, get her to bed and then we can talk."

"Ok, sounds like a plan," said Adam.

**After dinner…**

Melodie showed Harmony to her room while the others put up food and washed dishes. Emma, Max, and Lexa led the kids to the playroom. After Melodie was finished with Harmony, she walked into the playroom, relieving the others to return to the meeting. She felt kind of left out now that she was pregnant, but she was excited about the new baby.

This was the first baby she would actually raise with Jesse. She was looking forward to it.

XXXXX

Mari walked into the living room she sat by Lexa. Lexa braced herself to catch Mari if needed. She felt bad for Harmony, some kind of connection with her, she wasn't about to let anyone hurt her.

Adam walked in with a brown folder and sat done in the beige chair next to Shalimar and Al who were sitting on the loveseat. "All right, I've talked to my contacts; this is all I could find out. Alcazar, you sure you want to hear all this?"

"Yes."

"Your father is very much alive, so is your mother, kind of."

"What do you mean kind of?"

"Your mother was alive after the car accident. So was your father, but he was critical. He needed a heart transplant to survive. You mother was a match for your dad. She died, but her heart, her heart was used to save your dad."

Alcazar wanted to cry, but he couldn't. His mother had always been his best friend. When he heard his dad was alive, he prayed his mom was too. Now it was over and he felt like she died all over again.

"I'm so sorry," said Shal, as she reached for his hand.

Alcazar couldn't speak it hurt too much.

Adam went on, "The Dark Angel Project that was started years ago was disbanded as I suspected. However, they, under new leadership, have reassembled. They need a secret weapon and that weapon is Harmony."

"But why her?" asked Alcazar. "I mean surely she isn't the only mutant with multiple powers."

"No, she isn't," said Gabriel, "But she is the only one who can control them, not the power controlling her."

"All right, so how did they find out about her? The same way you did Adam?" asked Shal.

"No, the information I had on her was encrypted, took Jesse 3 hours to decrypt it all."

"So how did they find out?" asked Alcazar.

"They would have either needed a person like Jesse to decrypt or know the pass code to decrypt the encryption."

"Who would have the pass code?"

Jesse spoke up, "The only person who would have the pass code would be the original author of the program that encrypted the information."

"That would be?"

"The leader of the Dark Angel Project; John Cates, your father."

**Cliffhanger, surprise, right?**


	8. John Cates

**Disclaimer: Same old same old. I don't own Mutant X.**

**Chapter 8: John Cates**

Jesse spoke up, "The only person who would have the pass code would be the original author of the program that encrypted the information."

"That would be?"

"The leader of the Dark Angel Project, John Cates, your father."

Alcazar felt what was left of him leave him. All he thought he knew was a lie. "My dad is the leader of the Dark Angel Project?"

"The new leader," corrected Adam, "but yes, he took over about a year ago."

"Tell me what the Dark Angel Project is, I mean are they evil?"

"A few years back I would have said no, back when I was getting funding from the D.A.P they were peaceful. They even gave me the money to build Sanctuary and Haven."

"So maybe their still like that," said Alcazar as he tried to hold on to the hope that his father wasn't a monster. "I mean it's possible, right?"

"No, not possible, I'm sorry Al, I wish I had better news for you, but the D.A.P. is Mutant X worst nightmare."

Shal and Jesse glanced at each other, Shal turned to Adam, "What do you mean our worst nightmare?"

"The D.A.P. is gathering mutants to assault Mutant X and destroy everything we've built up."

"How are they going to do that?" asked Lexa.

"There's a hit out for some of you, others I'm guessing are more low-key than others."

"Who's got hits out on them?" asked Max.

"Shal, Jesse, Lexa, Emma, and Gabriel."

"What?" asked Gabriel, "I'm not even a member of Mutant X."

"But they see you as a threat to their leader. You have the power to lead Gabe; you've done it in the past. As weird as it sounds I think we're going to need you to do it again."

Shalimar couldn't believe her ears._ 'There is no way Adam just told Gabriel to go back to his evil ways.' _"What did you just say?"

"Gabriel, I need you to re-gather the Links. We're going to need them to fight with us. But they can't know of our location here at Xavier Manor."

"All right, I'll take Ashley with me, I can re-gather all the Links," said Gabriel as he and Ashley got off the couch and left.

Cassandra watched as her husband and son left. As the only non-mutant there, she felt out of place a lot of the times and spent most of her time with Melodie. Cassandra got up, "I'm going to go check on Mel and the kids."

Shal watched her leave. She glanced over at Mari who for some reason was very calm. Lexa looked at Shal and noticed Shal was noticing the same thing she was. Emma was sitting behind Jesse felt the tension between the three women. It was so thick in the air that she was forcing the images to stop. "Excuse me everyone, I need some aspirin."

"Ok, Adam what do we do?" asked Shal.

"Well you Shal, along with Emma, Jesse, and Lexa are hereby grounded from going on missions."

"Why? Just because there's a hit out on us?"

"Yes," said Adam. "This threat is unlike any threat we've ever received. The Dark Angel Project is worse the GSA, Ashlocke before transformation, and Dominion all rolled into one."

Shalimar felt nervous, like this threat was something to be afraid of, but she shook it off, "Adam I'm not hiding, never have never will."

"Me either," said Jesse.

"Same here," said Lexa.

"You three might think differently when you find out…you guys weren't the only ones on the list."

"Who else?"

"Brennan."

Mari looked at Adam, "Are you saying that there was a hit out on Brennan?"

"Yes."

"From this D.A.P.?"

"Yes. Look, virtually all of you are in danger, not just these five."

"They can't hurt us Adam, come on!"

Cassandra came running into the room, "Help!"

"Cassie, what is it?"

"Mel, she passed out, I can't wake her up!"

Jesse took off running with Adam and the others right behind him. Jesse got there first, only to find Alex kneeling beside his mom Melodie. Shalimar acted fast, picked him up, and carried him out. Alcazar went over; picked up B.J. and Chris and followed Shal out.

Adam knelt beside Melodie to fell for a pulse. Mike rushed in, "I'll carry her to the lab."

Adam nodded; Mike knew something was wrong, Adam was acting funny. Mike picked her up and almost knew instantly why Adam was so somber. There was no life in Melodie; she was dead.

For Jesse's sake, they went on as if nothing was wrong. They knew they would have to tell him, but not like this.

**15 minutes later…**

Jesse sat outside the lab with Emma beside him. She tried to calm him, but there was no use. He had just found out his wife and unborn daughter had died. He was inconsolable, wrecked with grief like she had never felt before.

"How could this happen?" he whispered between sobs.

"I don't know, maybe Adam will have answers for you later."

"I loved her Emma, I loved her so much," he sobbed. Emma pulled Jesse close to her and just held him.

**Next morning…**

Adam knocked on Jesse's room, "Jesse can I come in?"

"Sure."

"I got the test results back on Mel, do you want to hear them now or wait?"

"Yeah I want to know now. I have to know how she died."

Adam sat down on his bed; Jesse knew it wasn't good news. "Her blood test showed that she was poisoned."

"What?"

"I'm not sure how or what it was for the matter. Most it was out of her system by the time I took the blood sample."

Jesse closed his eyes trying to avoid hearing what Adam was saying, "I'm sorry, can this wait, I need to make arrangements to bury my wife and unborn child," he said angrily before leaving the room and slamming the door behind him.

Jesse walked down the hallway and placed a call to Melodies' mom. He had called her last night to tell her about Melodie and she said she wanted to help with the arrangements.

"Hello?" said a quiet but sad voice.

"Hey Katherine, its Jesse."

"How are you dear?"

"Terrible, you?"

"Horrible. How is Alex?"

"He's numb I think, Emma helped me calm him down last night."

"Who's Emma?"

"A friend that works with me at my company," he lied. "She's friends with Mel and me."

"Oh, well I made a list of relatives and I don't mind helping make arrangements in other areas."

"Well I guess there needs to be food at our house for guests, Shalimar, my sister, thought it would be nice to serve Mel's favorite food to our guests. You probably know her favorite foods better than I do."

"Well I just might, since I raised her," joked Katherine.

"One thing, don't forget the chocolates, you know the ones with the almonds in them. There her favorite."

"I know she loves them, has since her 16th birthday."

"She was excited to get the chocolates the other night that you sent."

"What chocolates?"

"You forgot that you sent her chocolates?"

"No I didn't forget; I never sent her chocolates Jesse. I don't even know your new address."

Jesse dropped the phone. The poison that killed his wife was in the chocolates. Fear and anger hit him all at once. He leaned against the wall and slid down. His body was overcome with grief. How did they know Melodies' favorite chocolates? How did they know where Xavier Manor was? Was no one safe? How could they kill an innocent woman who was pregnant with a child?

'_How could they kill my wife?'_

**All right, I'm not a huge fan of killing pregnant women. It killed me to kill off my character like that. However, as the story progresses, you will agree it had to be done.**


	9. Hiding

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Mutant X. **

**Thank you all for the most awesome reviews. Keep them coming please. They keep me going when I want to quit. I'm not lying, I really wanted to quit writing all together, but I decided against it. Never give up!**

**Chapter 9: Hiding**

Adam called together everyone into the living room. As they all gathered they noticed Jesse was sitting on the couch looking like he hadn't slept in months.

"Everyone sit down, please," said Adam.

Shal sat down next to Jesse, not knowing what to say. "How are you?"

"Peachy."

"I'm sorry Jesse."

"Me too," he said sadly. Shal hated seeing him like this, but she knew how much he loved Mel. How excited he was to be having a new baby.

"All right, I've called this meeting this morning to give everyone the heads up on what's going to happen. Emma, Cassandra, Mari, and Harmony, you all will need to pack, because I'm moving you to a new location."

"What?" asked Emma in shock.

"I need you girls to take Christopher, B.J., and Alex to Sanctuary."

"Why?" asked Mari.

"Because, the D.A.P. knows where we are," said Jesse. "They sent Melodie the chocolates the other day, they killed her."

Shal was the first one to speak, "I'll pack all of BJ's stuff. How much time do we have?"

"Wait," said Max. "Adam didn't you tell us yesterday that the D.A.P. funded you building Sanctuary and Haven?"

"Max is right," said Lexa, "They would know to go there. We need a new hideout."

"I have another location, one the D.A.P. doesn't know about."

"How do you know they don't know?" asked Shal.

"Cause I built it with my own money, no outside funding."

They heard footsteps behind them and turned to see Josh and Zack standing there. Emma walked toward Josh and hugged her. "Welcome back you two."

"Thanks, good to be back," said Zack.

"Yeah, wish it was under better circumstances, but you can't pick when you're needed," said Josh.

"You two have a seat, I'm handing out assignments," said Adam.

"Nice to see you too, Adam," said Josh as she sat down.

Jesse got up, "Adam, give me the co-ordinates for the secret hideout and I'll key it into Helix II system."

"Jesse," said Mari, "let me do it."

"No, I'm completely capable of doing this, thank you very much."

Adam wrote down the co-ordinates on a piece of paper and handed it to Jesse, "Thanks Jesse."

"No problem, I need to protect these kids Adam."

"I know," said Adam. He was scared of the look he saw in Jesse's eyes. He had never seen it before and he never wanted to see it again. But he knew he would until the pain Jesse was feeling went away.

Within minutes Jesse returned, "Shal, you Mari, Emma, Harmony, and Cassie get the kids packed and ready to go. The Helix is ready to go when you are."

"Thanks Jesse," said Shal. "I'll make sure Alex is packed."

"Thanks, I'm in no shape to pack my son," he said sadly.

"I know," she said hugging him and then heading off to pack her daughter and his son. She hated handing her daughter off to someone else, but she knew it wasn't safe for the kids to stay at the Manor anymore.

XXXXX

It took them two hours to pack the kids and get Mari, Emma, Cassie, and Harmony all on the Helix. Emma would fly the Helix with Mari. Jesse watched with sullen heart as the Helix lifted off. It was cloaked so no one but them could see the Helix.

A tear ran down Jesse's face and Shal walked over and took his hand, "They will be all right."

"I know, but will I be all right?"

"In time," she said.

XXXXX

Jesse, Shalimar, Lulu, Lexa, Max, and Dax walked into the situation room where Adam was standing. Jesse, program the Helix I to fly to Sanctuary, we're going there tonight."

"Only if you let me change all the codes," said Jesse without budging.

"Deal."

XXXXX

Within 6 hours, they arrived at Sanctuary. Lexa, Max, Dax, Mike, Jesse, Shalimar, Josh, Zack, and Rosalie walked into Sanctuary carrying their luggage.

"Let's put our luggage up later," said Lexa. "Just place the luggage in your room and come back and let's eat."

"Ok."

Jesse walked to his old room and placed his luggage down. He sat on the bed and leaned back on the bed, "Welcome back to your old life before Melodie."

**All right kind of short, but not bad right? Review please and the next chapter will get here faster.**


	10. Depression Sets In

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters.**

**I am so sorry it took so long to update. My computer crashed and I lost everything. But luckily I had uploaded everything here on ff before it happened. Well I uploaded this one, everything else is gone. But I can rewrite it.**

**Thank you for the reviews. This chapter is short but I promise it serves a purpose.**

**Chapter 10 Depression Sets In**

Jesse lay in bed staring up at the ceiling of Sanctuary. He had thought he would never see this place again, even hoped, but he was right back where it all began. Adam had arrived earlier that night with Alcazar. Jesse lost his appetite fast and left the table. He wasn't mad at Alcazar; furthermore, he liked the guy. However, he couldn't get past the fact that Alcazar's dad killed Melodie, his wife and their unborn child.

John Cates was Jesse worst fear realized. Jesse rolled over in bed and stood up. He opened his door and walked down the hallway to the kitchen. He opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a bottle of scotch he knew Brennan had hidden there.

_Brennan, I could really use you right now. I wish with all my heart that I had just been man enough to say I forgive you and that I was sorry for being a jerk as well. I wish I had stopped that bullet before it took your life._

Jesse walked back to his room and closed the door. Sitting in the door beside his bed, he took a long swig from the bottle. He felt the warm liquid coursing through his veins.

_Brennan, you were too young to die. Your little girl was too young to lose her daddy. I promise you man, I will make sure she never forgets you. I'll tell her everything about you. _

Jesse takes another sip.

_Melodie, my love, why did you leave me? Why didn't you fight harder to live? Why wasn't I there for you when you needed me the most? All these questions and you cannot answer a one of them can you?_

_Alex doesn't understand and I don't know what to say to make him feel better. I just want you back. You know what I said just before I found out you died._

_I told Adam that "They can't hurt us Adam, come on!"_

_Well I guess I was wrong huh? Yeah, I was wrong, because I hurt a lot right now…_

Jesse takes another swig and puts the bottle down beside him. He stood up, sat down on the bed, and laid back. He thought back on his wedding day with Melodie and how perfect the day had been. Their son Alex was Jesse's ring man and Mike had stood in for best man. He laughed thinking that it was actually their second wedding, the first they eloped.

_Melodie, I don't know how I'm going to go on without you. Nevertheless, I will, for Alex's sake, and for yours. I will find the monster that took you away from us and make him pay with his life. _

**Told you all it was short. Please review and the next chapter is longer I promise.**


	11. Dark Angel Project DAP

**Chapter 11: D.A.P.**

**Thank you for all the reviews, they mean everything to me when I cannot seemed to fine a reason to write anything. You reviewers are my reason!**

**Here we go the next chapter…**

John Cates sat behind a desk reading the case files in front of him. It had taken him hours to have the information decrypted, but what he was reading was making the time well worth it. He now knew everything he needed to know about Mutant X.

He ran his fingers over the names on the files: Adam Kane, Shalimar Fox, Jesse Kilmartin, Emma DeLauro, Lexa Pierce, Brennan Mulwray, Melodie Kilmartin, Marisol Rosario-Mulwray, Josh Brown, Zack Martin, Dakota Laken, Max Laken, Gabriel Ashlocke, Ashley Ashlocke, Rosalie Nichols-Laken and Lulu Johnson.

He ran over the file with Alcazar and Harmony Cates names written on them. He had had Harmony right were he wanted her, but she managed to get away. She was never supposed to see him kill Brennan. How could he have been so careless? Now he would have to regain her trust or kill her.

It was bad enough that he knew for sure that he would have to kill Alcazar, but the thought of killing both of his children was beyond comprehension. He wasn't a monster; he just wanted revenge against the one person who had ruined his life: Adam Kane!

He would not stop until he had killed every member of Mutant X.

He picked up the folders of Melodie Kilmartin and Brennan Mulwray; he stood up, walked over the garbage can and tossed the files in the can. "Two down, fourteen to go."

Gabriel stood watching Alcazar looking out over the railings on the roof. Gabriel could feel the emotions coming from Al, none of them were good. Gabriel knew that if someone didn't do something soon, Alcazar would destroy everything around him. Gabriel knew firsthand that anger that strong never led to anything but pain and death for everyone around him.

Gabriel walked across the roof toward Alcazar, "Lot to deal with huh?"

Alcazar turned his head toward Gabriel, "Yeah, not sure I understand all of I yet. The more I stand here and think about it, the madder I get. I mean how does a father not tell his children that he isn't dead? Why did he reveal himself to my sister and not me? How could he have been apart of this D.A.P. and never tell me?"

"A lot of questions, but I have very few answers for you. However, maybe I can try to explain some. You see I lead a group called the Links, I even used them to hurt Mutant X, especially Shalimar. I had two kids with my high school girlfriend, Cassie. Once I realized my mutation was getting out of control, I left her while she was still pregnant; I did not want to hurt her or my kids. Year past and they knew nothing of my dealings with the Links when they came looking for me when they turned 18." 

"But Ashley knows now, right?"

"Yeah he does, when him and his sister Gabriella found me I was dying. I told them to let me die, but they said no. I told them that I was a monster and they went after Adam to get a cure for me. They saved my life in more ways than one."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"Nothing, except that father sometimes lie to protect their kids. Your dad probably has no intention of hurting you or your sister. More than likely he only means to hurt Mutant X."

"But hurting you guys hurts me and Harmony. In the few days that I've been here, I've grown to care very much for every single one of you. I have always thought me and Harmony were the only Mutants out there. But being around you all, I don't feel so… alone."

"But do you really want to go up against you own dad in order to fight with us?"

"I don't want to fight my dad, but I want to kill the monster that killed BJ's dad and Jesse's wife. What do you do when the father you loved is the monster you hate?"

"Choose whether you want to fight the monster or join the father."

"I choose to fight; I choose to fight."

**Therefore, it begins…next chapter!**


	12. Gabriel's Plan

**Disclaimer: Still do not own Mutant X. However, I do own any of the characters you do not recognize from the show. There is a character from the show turning up in the chapter, but it will not be listed here because I don't want to ruin the surprise. **

**Thank you so much for the reviews, they are amazing. Please keep them coming.**

**Chapter 12: Gabriel's Plan**

Gabriel and Alcazar walked into Sanctuary together just as Shalimar walked downed the hallway. She looked at both men, "Gabriel, when did you get in?"

"A few hours ago."

"What were you two doing?"

"Talking," said Gabe. "Figured Al here could use a talk from someone who has been there."

"That sounds nice," she smiled, "Al, how are you doing?"

"Better now, Gabriel was just telling me about his plan and I think you should hear it."

Gabe motioned for Al to shut up, but it was too late.

"What plan?" asked Shalimar.

Alcazar looked at Gabriel. He didn't understand why Gabe wouldn't want Shal to know the plan. "Maybe I shouldn't say anything."

"Ashlocke?" asked Shal. "You want to tell me?"

"Not yet, there are just some details to work out first."

"Ok, well if this has to do with Mutant X, shouldn't we work on this plan together?"

"Of course we should, but this concerns the Links and I haven't gotten all the information possible yet."

"When will you have it all?"

"Tomorrow, after breakfast, promise."

"Ok, then I'll see you both in the morning."

Shalimar gave one glance towards both Gabriel and Alcazar before walking past both of them going toward the stairs.

Gabriel slapped Alcazar on the back of the head, "Hey!"

"What did you tell her for?"

"She deserves to know!"

"It will only hurt her if she knows."

"How?"

"Well genius, you're going to find out in person tomorrow morning. You get a front row seat to me breaking her heart all over again!"

Gabriel walked away angrily from Alcazar. He knew Alcazar didn't know what he had done, how could he? He was 20 years old and until a few days ago thought that, he was the only other mutant besides his kid sister. Tomorrow he would learn different.

**After breakfast the next morning…**

After breakfast everyone crowded into the situation room. Shalimar had informed everyone that Gabriel had come up with a plan. Gabriel tried to refute that, but couldn't in the end. He growled almost at Alcazar as they got up from the table to follow everyone else.

Lexa, Max, Dax, Mike, Jesse, Shalimar, Josh, Zack, and Rosalie were all seated along with Adam when Alcazar and Gabriel entered the room. Alcazar sat down next to Shalimar. He still had no clue why the plan Gabriel had would hurt Shalimar, he thought it would make her happy.

Gabriel decided to stand in front of the group. "All right, before I begin I just want to start of by saying that I wasn't really prepared to go ahead with telling you this entire plan yet. However, it is a plan that I know will work and will bring this war to an end pretty fast. But it has a good side and bad side."

"We understand," said Shal, "at this point I think we are willing to try anything."

"I hope you still think that when you hear it," he grin slightly. "All right, yesterday Ashley and I were able to regroup most of the Links together. They are willing to help Mutant X defeat the Dark Angel Project. In reconnecting with my Links I came across one particular former colleague that suggested a way to change the game a bit into our favor."

"How?" asked Max.

"By turning back time in a way."

"What do you mean?"

"The mutant I found was… Diana Moller."

Shalimar recognized the name immediately. She was mutant who accidentally sent Brennan and her back into the past. "What's the plan?"

"Shalimar, before I continue, I need you to fully listen before jumping to conclusions, all right?"

"Ok."

"The plan is to send someone back to the day that Brennan died, to kill John Cates before he can kill Brennan."

"That's a great idea," said Shalimar. She glanced at Alcazar, "I'm sorry, I know that's your dad."

Alcazar looked at Shalimar, "Don't worry about it. He told me last night. I don't know John Cates anymore; he's not the man I thought he was."

"Shal, you have to let me finish," interrupted Gabriel. "Diana and I talked this out. She says she can send someone to stop Mel from eating the chocolate that night."

Jesse for the first time since breakfast looked as if he was listening, "What did you say?"

"I said the Diana could send someone to stop Mel from dying."

"This is great," said Jesse, "Wait, didn't you say this had a bad side? So far, I don't see it."

"That's cause I don't want to tell either of you this, but Diana said you might have to choose."

"Choose what?"

"Who to save…" whispered Gabe.

"What?" asked Shal. "Did you just say we would have to choose who to save?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, but Diana says she not sure she can save both Brennan and Melodie."

"So we have to choose?" asked Shal. "How can you ask us to choose?"

"I'm sorry, I wish there was another way."

Adam spoke up, "You two take some time to think about this. We will take about this tomorrow. I admit this is a good plan though. Killing John would stop the D.A.P. But if this is too hard for either of you, we will find another way."

Everyone left the room around them as Jesse put his head into his hands and Shal sat down beside him just as lost. How could they decide whom to save? Jesse knew the only choice wasn't on his side. How could he save Mel when that wouldn't stop John Cates from coming after Mutant X.?

Shalimar knew she had to sacrifice Brennan to let Jesse have Melodie back and their unborn daughter. There was no way she could ask her pseudo brother to give that up.

**Now that is a tough choice, how to choose who to save? Find how who they pick in the next chapter, coming up soon.**


	13. Choice and Consequence

**Disclaimer: Same as usual. For all that did not notice, Diana Moller first appeared in last chapter, in name only, but hey I call that appearing, lol. This chapter she will actually appear in person. Also for those that do not know I do not own her, she was on the show for one episode.**

**Chapter 13: Choice and Consequence**

Lexa, Max, Dax, Mike, Gabriel, Al, Josh, Zack, Adam and Rosalie as sat around in the situation room waiting for Shalimar and Jesse to speak the next morning. Shal stood up, "I thought about this all night, I cried I got angry at the impossible situation and finally decided that I only had one right choice to make. Mari should have a say in this, but since she isn't here, Gabe…"

"Yeah?"

"Tell Diana to save Mel," she said looking down at Jesse who had his head bowed down. Jesse looked up at her with tears in his eyes. He knew how much Shalimar wanted Brennan back alive and knew how much it had hurt her to make that sacrifice.

Jesse stood up and hugged her. She sat down as Jesse tried to speak, "Shalimar, who have no idea how much it mean to me that you would be willing to hurt yourself to avoid me being hurt. However, I cannot let you do that. Bringing back Mel will not end the war with D.A.P before it wages out of control. Stopping him before he kills Brennan will. I loved Mel with all of my heart and me making this decision doesn't mean I didn't."

"Jesse…" said Shalimar.

"Gabriel, tell Diana to save Brennan."

Gabriel looked at Adam, "What do I do?"

Adam did not know what to say. Rosalie sniffled, "Gabriel, by saving Brennan, won't that automatically save Mel? I mean if John is dead than he can't send the chocolate right?"

"Wrong, he sent the chocolate two days before Melodie got them. Dead or alive she would have gotten them," said Ashley as he entered followed by Diana Moller.

Rosalie wrapped her arms around Shal's shoulders.

Diana walked over to Gabriel, "Have they decided?"

"Yeah," said Jesse, "we decided to save… Brennan."

"All right, then we need to decide who to send back to shoot John Cates."

Gabriel, Lexa, Max, Dax, Alcazar, Mike, Jesse, Shalimar, Josh, Zack, Ashley and Rosalie all looked at each other.

Diana spoke, "It has to be someone who wasn't there that day. It's too dangerous to do the other way."

"That was already decided as well actually," said Alcazar as he glanced toward Gabriel. "It will be me."

"No, it can't be," said Ashley. "If Harmony sees you shoot your father, she will never believe you didn't know he was alive."

"Ashley's right," said Lexa. "But I can do it."

"But you were there that day," said Jesse.

"But I can disappear remember?"

"Would that work?" asked Rosalie to Diana.

"Yeah, it will work. Lexa, you need a gun with a silencer on it, so that the other won't hear the shot."

"I got one of those," she smirked.

"Figured you were the type of girl to have one," smiled Max.

"Shut up honey," she smiled.

"Can you two shut up?" asked Jesse. "I'm going to my room, someone come tell me when it's over."

Lexa knew that watching her kid around with Max hurt Jesse because he used to do the same with Melodie. Lexa went to her room to fetch her gun.

Diana was talking to Shalimar when Lexa returned, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, so how does this work?"

"You might want to do your little invisible trick before leaving, because the landing might be a bit rough," shared Shalimar.

"Gotcha," smiled Lexa.

Diana warned, "You got only one shot at this, no repeats. You shoot John and I will pull you back. When you are ready to return, think the word 'Sanctuary' and I will be able to bring you back at the point. The good news is I've had more practice since sending Shalimar back, so enjoy the landing."

Lexa phased out just as Diana sent her back…

_Lexa materialized right in front of herself back at the warehouse. She moved quickly to avoid being hit by herself as she was advancing through the door into the main room of the warehouse. She quickly looked around for John Cates, she ran to side of the warehouse to avoid being hit by Harmony when she came in._

_It was somewhat nice knowing what was going to happen before it did._

_She noticed a man standing in the shadows on the second level. He wasn't very well hidden, why hadn't she seen him 3 days before when it happened? So many questions, not enough time to figure them out. From photos she had seen of John Cates matched the man she saw above. She ran as fast as she could to get to the second level of the warehouse in time to stop him. She managed to get to the second level just as John Cates was above to fire his shot at Brennan. She raised her gun and fired striking John Cates in his head; he fell without a sound. _

_She turned at the sound of flames. She saw the ending of the fight where Harmony ran off. However, this time she had the chance to see where Harmony ran to. She wanted to see, but she had to get back. She glanced one time just to make sure she had succeeded in saving Brennan. He was standing up trying to help Dax get Max off the floor. He was alive. _

_She took off running after Harmony. She had to know where the girl went after she had left them. She followed Harmony up the stairs. To her amazement, the girl ran to her father who was lying on the floor of the second level, dead._

_Lexa watched below as her team walked out of the warehouse. She knew she needed to leave, but she wanted to see Harmony do this. She knew that this did not happen three days ago, but she also knew that this meant Harmony had known that her father was there that day and was going to shoot someone._

_However, the next thing she heard made her sick to her stomach…_

"_Daddy, wake up! You promised if I helped you that you would take me to mommy! I can't find her without you…"_

_The monster hadn't told her that her mother was dead. Cates had used Harmony's love for her mother to force her to attack us. _

_She had to return to her time now..._

Lexa appeared in Sanctuary, she glanced at Diana who was alone in the room when she returned. "Where is everyone?"

"In the living room asleep."

Lexa ran into the living room, "Wake up!"

Shalimar was the first to wake up and then everyone else, "Did it work?"

"Yes, at least on my end it did. I shot John and Brennan was alive last time I saw him."

Shalimar couldn't believe it herself when she hugged Lexa. Shalimar was happy to know the Brennan was alive again. She couldn't wait to tell Mari and she knew B.J. would love playing with her daddy again.

However, when she turned around all she saw was Jesse. He had sacrificed so much for this moment to happen for her. Lexa ran up the stairs of Sanctuary, then back down again slightly, "We have to pack and go home, but first Jesse give me your cell phone."

"Use your own."

"Jesse, now!"

Jesse handed her his phone. She quickly dialed a number, "Hey, it's me Lexa, how are you? Good, yeah we are on our way home. Yeah, there's someone here who wants to speak to you." She hands the phone to Jesse, "here."

"You're too happy," he tried to smile. He took the phone, "Hello."

"Hey Jesse, when you coming home?"

"Mel?"

"Yeah, who else?

"But, you…"

"But I what, shouldn't be up this late? Try telling that to the little soccer player daughter of yours who keeps kicking me."

"I love you."

"I love you too, so when you coming home."

"As soon as I can get the Helix in the air and faster if possible."

He hung up the phone, "Lexa, how?"

"I took a chance and told you, well the you in the past, to throw her chocolate away when you got it or she would die."

"You revealed yourself to me?"

"Yeah."

"Wow, and I must have listened to you."

"Well of course you did, you trusted me."

"Who told you how to trust?"

"You did, when you talked me into staying here at Mutant X."

"We talk about this later; I want to hug my wife."

Shalimar hugged him, "Let's pick up our family back at the other location and all go home. I need to hold my daughter."

"Let's go, can't wait to see Alex's face when he sees his mom is alive."

**Two weeks later (Xavier Estates)…**

Brennan sat holding his daughter playing on the floor with Mari and a teddy bear. Jesse sat with Melodie on his lap watching Alex trying to stand on his head.

Shalimar sat next to Jesse. She leaned over, "Slap me next time I take this for granted."

"Ditto."

Alcazar came into the room, "Shalimar you ready?"

Brennan looked up, "Where you two off too?"

"Movies and dinner," answered Shalimar. "Harmony is babysitting Emma's and Mike's little boy Chris tonight, so it will just be the two of us. Our first official date," she smiled.

"But not our last," added Al. "Mind if I say goodnight to B.J. before I leave?"

Alcazar had been very respectful of Brennan's right as BJ's dad. Brennan smiled, "Sure."

Alcazar picked up B.J., "You going to be good girl while mommy goes out for a bit? Of course you are; you're always a good girl aren't you?"

Brennan smiles, "Not always, but she's cute so it gets forgiven."

"She gets that from her momma," said Al.

Shalimar laughed slightly, "Yeah right."

Shalimar came around Alcazar to look at her daughter only to find she had fallen asleep again on Alcazar. "What is it with you and my daughter?"

Brennan gently took B.J. from Alcazar, "I'll put her down you two get going."

"All right. Enjoy you game later with Jesse," said Shalimar.

"Thanks, I will but he won't, he can't play basketball."

"Yes I can," said Jesse from the couch. "I just don't want to embarrass you."

Emma watched from the kitchen of Xavier Estates. She smiled and thought to herself _'Some things never change.'_

**This is the end of the series. I will write further stories, but this is the final chapter of this saga. Thank you all very much for reading and reviewing.**


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